MovieChat Forums > The Departed (2006) Discussion > Does anyone think that the climax was a ...

Does anyone think that the climax was a Deux Ex Machina?

posted 8 years ago by RynoII
13 replies | jump to latest

Basically Costigan has no proof that he was a cop, and he has Sullivan after him now, and he is hopeless on what to do.

Then all of a sudden, Costello's lawyer contacts him, with a bunch of recorded on tape evidence, proving that Sullivan is a mole.

I mean this lawyer was never in the movie before, and he came out of nowhere, with the exact evidence that was needed, at time when there was no evidence to be found. It just seemed like a deux ex machina way bringing this movie to it's ending.

What do you think?

[–] dmariat55 8 years ago

For your own info ry it's deus ex machina, God from machine.

[–] hero-de-celluloid 8 years ago

I wouldn't classify it as such.

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[–] jmcafee-64857 8 years ago

Why not?

[–] hero-de-celluloid 8 years ago

Costello was a rat himself - he was giving evidence to the feds - I would think that involved recording people to give the feds evidence - or just to protect himself. Giving these tapes to his lawyer would be an understandable action and as the story goes - he trusted Billy. That was a main point of the movie - that Billy gained his trust. So I don't think it was an "unexpected power" saving the day. Billy also knew it was Sullivan who was the rat - that was no surprise. I just don't think it was a "contrived" plot coming out of nowhere.

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[–] Manton29 8 years ago

That second mob mole shooting Costigan was deus ex machina. That was bu11sh!t. Personally, I think the film is a mess. Like a jigsaw puzzle where the pieces don't fit, but because SOME of the pieces are so compelling and memorable people ignore the problem of the whole. Even the way individual scenes are cut shows a sort of schizophrenia, with characters changing mood and personality with the shots and dialogue feeling disjointed as though a lot of lines were cut and Thelma (editor) used very different takes together. If you pay attention you will see this. It's common and not a big problem up to a certain degree, but with this film, the characters feel all over the place.

If to stand pat means to resist evil then, yes, neighbour, we wish to stand pat.

[–] hero-de-celluloid 8 years ago

That second mob mole shooting Costigan was deus ex machina.

IMO - that term isn't the way I would use it. Many movies have surprises and twists that are unexpected - but I wouldn't call them deus ex machina. In this case - the cops talked about having more than one mole in Costello's organization - that indicated to me (made me think about) that Costello could have more than one mole in the police organization - a bit of foreshadowing - so I don't think the second mole was a contrived plot that came out of nowhere.

As for the film being a mess - we will have to disagree on that because I thought it was a cinematic masterpiece - not perfect - but a masterpiece.

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[–] Manton29 8 years ago

Hi hero, thanks for your response.

Yeah, I guess the term is slippery... I suppose what I should have said is the introduction of this catalistic agent who can turn things around made all the work of keeping up with the plot redundant. If it's a film about the seeming unpredictablility of life, we don't need all the carful and very guided plotting to follow, and if it's a film about all that plotting, we don't need the completely unforsseable surprise - hard to articulate this right now but I guess I feel the film broke its own rules and wasted my brain power.

I've watched the film several times and am halfway through another 2-state viewing, but I can't see myself every changing my view that it's a mess with some very powerful moments and characterisations that has somehow seduced a lot of people into thinking the whole is a lot better than it really is. That's not an opinion I enjoy having, or a statement I make with any arrogance or feeling of superiority but rather just my natural and unavoidable opinion.

My personal favourite Scorsese films are in no particular order:
The Aviator
Taxi Driver
King of Comedy
Mean Streets
Casino

Imagine there are people on this thread who will find one or more of these films very inferior to The Departed, and might have solid reasoning for that.

Why people like a film seems to be often quite inexplicable and is justified rationally after the case.

I have recently been enjoying searching for films rated under 7 on here that I like. The lowest rated film made in the past 20 years I can find which I like is The Corruptor.

If to stand pat means to resist evil then, yes, neighbour, we wish to stand pat.

[–] Manton29 8 years ago

Hi hero, thanks for your response.

Yeah, I guess the term is slippery... I suppose what I should have said is the introduction of this catalistic agent who can turn things around made all the work of keeping up with the plot redundant. If it's a film about the seeming unpredictablility of life, we don't need all the careful and very guided plotting to follow, and if it's a film about all that plotting, we don't need the completely unforsseable surprise - hard to articulate this right now but I guess I feel the film broke its own rules and wasted my brain power.

I've watched the film several times and am halfway through another 2-stage viewing, but I can't see myself ever changing my view that it's a mess with some very powerful moments and characterisations that has somehow seduced a lot of people into thinking the whole is a lot better than it really is. That's not an opinion I enjoy having, or a statement I make with any arrogance or feeling of superiority but rather just my natural and unavoidable opinion.

My personal favourite Scorsese films are in no particular order:
The Aviator - I love the subject matter, the music, just about everything.
Taxi Driver - for me, this is a perfect film.
King of Comedy - Feel it's like a brilliant partner piece to Taxi Driver.nused to feel same about Bringing Out the Dead but that faded for me on a second viewing.
Mean Streets - raw, liked it, not as much as the above...
Casino - only seen this once and need to watch again, remember it being a pretty unusual and maybe problematic film that somehow hit the spot - to the extent that it sort of replaced Goodfellas for me as a favourite.

I imagine there are people on this thread who will find one or more of these films very inferior to The Departed, and might have solid reasoning for that.

Why people like a film seems to be often quite inexplicable and is justified rationally after the case.

I have recently been enjoying searching for films rated under 7 on here that I like. The lowest rated film made in the past 20 years I can find which I like is The Corruptor.

If to stand pat means to resist evil then, yes, neighbour, we wish to stand pat.

[–] hero-de-celluloid 8 years ago

good input - guess we just don't agree on this film - but that's what makes the world go around - but just curious - with all the films out there - why would you watch a film that you think is a mess several times.

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[–] Manton29 8 years ago

Cheers:

Mainly for all the aforementioned compelling moments.

Also, I wondered on embarking, whether I this time I might see the film differently and like it more as a whole.

Also I'm working on a screenplay and thought watching it might be helpful with certain aspects of that.

Also, I'm making the final little changes to the edit of a short film and thought Thelma Schoonmaker's editing might offer last minute ideas for how to improve it.

Only the first reason has been clearly fruitful so far, but the third and fourth reason may yet yield benefits.

Cheers,

Manton

If to stand pat means to resist evil then, yes, neighbour, we wish to stand pat.

[–] hero-de-celluloid 8 years ago

Sounds interesting - good luck.

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[–] Manton29 8 years ago

Cheers. Just finished it. Think I ought to add that I generally find films in which we follow multiple characters less engaging than those which follow a single character or even two characters - here the scenes with Costello but neither Sullivan or Costigan felt misplaced and unnecessary as though they belonged in a separate film. And when the primary character or one of several key characters exits I usually find myself less moved by events thereafter - for me Costgan was far more interesting and better portrayed than Sullivan. No Country for Old Men and Talented Mr Ripley also affected me like that. Ikiru is a notable exception to this. I know many love Magnolia, Short Cuts etc. I can't stand them. A predisposition thing.

[–] SteveRes (482) 5 years ago

"Basically Costigan has no proof that he was a cop, and he has Sullivan after him now, and he is hopeless on what to do."

I dig this film but this was one glaring error from the writers. Costigan's history as a cop wouldn't magically disappear from history just because Sullivan pressed a "delete file" button on his PC. Everything you do on your PC is burned into the hard drive, all Costigan had to do when Frank's solicitor sent him the incriminating recordings of the phone conversations was to take them to someone like Baldwin's character and get the tech guys to lift his "deleted" files from the hard drive. But then of course we don't get the big Hollywood ending. Instead he chose to run for "two weeks" until Dignam returned to work, which sealed his fate.